161 thoughts on “Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?”

  1. Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire:

    In a radio interview, Martha Coakley (D) claimed that Red Sox great Curt Schilling was a Yankee fan.

    While Massachusetts Democrats can disagree with Schilling’s political views, they have to respect him as the person who brought the Red Sox their first World Series championship in 86 years. Calling him a Yankee fan is a huge insult to an entire state.

    You can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

  2. Who should we nominate to defeat impending Senator Scott Brown?

    Rep. Capuano

    Ted Kennedy Jr

    Joe Kennedy III

    Barney Frank

    . . . Other?

    I’m getting a sickening feeling. Only thing I feel okay about is I heard on Hardball today that Healthcare reform CAN still happen short of reconciliation if the House were to adopt the Senate’s bill VERBATIM. Still, my pet issue of Cap ‘n Trade is now dead.

    Good Riddance Coakley.

  3. I just watched Apocalypse Now yesterday.

    Also, I don’t get why a unified Republican government gets six years to wreck the country and we only get two…

  4. Latest rasmussen polls from California show a possible tough re-election for sen. Boxer. (Change from Nov 17 poll)

    Boxer 46(-) Fiorina 43(+6)

    Boxer 46(-) DeVore  40(+4)

    Boxer 46    Campbell 42

    The polls may not show it but I think Fiorina would be the most formidable candidate to go up against Boxer. She has a good rags-to-riches story about how she rose to become HP ceo (although it’s a double-edged sword). She battled breast cancer and still shows the battle scars. She has an ability to self-finance but not to the same degree as Whitman or Poizner.

    Of all the republican candidates, she seems to be the most dangerous to Boxer’s re-election ambitions..  

  5. Cook just downgraded this race to Lean D in a relatively deep blue state. If the all-mail special election is held May 1 (as the governor and replublicans would like), ballots should drop around March 25.  That’s only 60 days to campaign before ballots are being cast.

  6. Does anyone knows how I could help Coakley from Indiana? I am not going to give money, I am only giving to Haiti relief right now. I have family in Mass, but they are far right and there is no point. I went to her website and I found a section on making calls, but I think it is just for people in Mass. So at this point I am just crossing my fingers, if someone could give me some ideas that would be great.

  7. Terry Branstad announced pretty big fundraising numbers this week; he has $1.3 million on hand and raised $1.5 million during the 4Q. I am curious to see the other GOP candidates’ numbers. Will Bob Vander Plaats have even $500K on hand?

    Vander Plaaats is going to have a large volunteer army with the support of the Iowa Family Policy Center (the most prominent group trying to reverse same-sex marriage rights in Iowa). I considered the chance for a Vander Plaats upset, but my gut says Branstad is going to run away with the primary.

    I took a guess at how many votes will be needed to win the GOP primary here.

  8. Republicans have nowhere to go but up in the Iowa Senate. They currently hold 18 of the 50 seats, which is the smallest GOP caucus in Iowa Senate history. Dems are defending 19 of the 25 Iowa Senate seats on the ballot this year.

    Last spring I looked at the potentially competitive Senate races and concluded that only four were realistic pickup opportunities for the Iowa GOP. Of those four, Republicans have declared candidates in two: Senate district 9, where former State Representative Bill Dix will be a formidable competitor to first-term incumbent Bill Heckroth, and Senate district 37, where State Representative and grade A wingnut Kent Sorenson is running against first-term incumbent Staci Appel.

    I think Sorenson shot himself in the foot last week when he endorsed Bob Vander Plaats for governor and said he wouldn’t vote for Terry Branstad if he’s the nominee. Assuming Branstad wins the nomination and Sorenson doesn’t walk back his pledge, there may be quite a few Republicans who refuse to vote for or donate to Sorenson.

    As far as I know, there are no declared Republican candidates against Rich Olive in Senate district 5 or Becky Schmitz in Senate district 45. Both seats should be competitive if the GOP recruits a decent challenger. Olive won narrowly in 2006 after Republican Stew Iverson retired; Iverson is thinking about making a comeback this year, but surprisingly may run in Iowa House district 9, which comprises half of his old Senate district.

    There is one Republican-held Senate seat that Democrats might be able to win: Dave Hartsuch is a Steve King-like figure in Senate district 41, relatively evenly divided territory in the Quad Cities area. Hartsuch faces a Republican primary challenger and two declared Democratic candidates.

    Keeping marriage equality depends in large part on Democrats holding the Iowa Senate. Majority Leader Mike Gronstal has said many times that he is not going to allow a floor vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The Iowa constitutional amendment process is long; an amendment has to be approved by the Iowa House and Senate in two separate legislative assemblies.

    Assuming Gronstal succeeds in blocking a same-sex marriage vote this year, and Democrats hold a majority, the GOP would have to win back the House and Senate in 2012, pass the marriage amendment in 2013 or 2014, hold the House and Senate in 2014, and then pass the marriage amendment in 2015 before it could finally go on the ballot. I believe that five years from now a majority of Iowans will be comfortable with marriage equality.  

  9. Looks like scott brown is filing criminal charges against the Massachusetts democratic party claiming false claims were leveled against him in a political mailing.

    Sorry, the only link I could find is this partisan dribble.

    http://gatewaypundit.firstthin

    The mailing was, in fairness, quite shocking in its harshness. It’s just another sign how desperate a situation the Coakely camp seem to be in to launch such an ad.

  10. State Senator Jonathon Paton who won the Eastside Tucson + Sierra Vista seat last cycle that had been held by Tim Bee.

    She’ll definitely have to work harder against him than she would have against one of her random teabagging opponents, but I think she still has the edge. For one thing, Paton is more of a mainstream conservative, so he either has to whole-heartedly embrace the teabaggers, which puts him in an awkward position for the general in a district that typically prefers moderates, or try to dispatch them and earn their ire. In the interim, Repub Jesse Kelly, who had been the front runner in the primary in part because of his notoriety on the far right, isn’t backing down.

    Then there’s the fact that Gabby dispatched her last opponents by double-digit margins. She shouldn’t rest easy, but I don’t know what Paton (a political consultant and army reservist) brings to the table that the others didn’t, besides running in a better cycle for Repubs. Additionally, it’s even questionable how good the cycle will be for Repubs in Arizona anyway, with the governor and legislature so unpopular. This probably isn’t the year to be running as a State Senator in Arizona.

  11. Just in case you did not read it:

    I bet alot of you (including myself) are doing this already but just in case you are not and you are able to, call Massachusetts. We have to get Coakley supporters out!

    http://my.barackobama.com/page… This link will take you to the call site. Also, please post comments on daily kos, open left and other Liberal blogs urging people to call Massachusetts. It’s all about turnout! We need Obama’s agenda and health care reform!

Comments are closed.